Leeds Castle

This past weekend Mike and I along with our very good friends, Lizzie and Dan, decided to go on an adventure to Leeds Castle.

I have been wanting to see the castle in person for some time, being a feature in several films/TV shows. It is also branded ‘The Loveliest Castle in the World’, so I was so glad to have finally made the trip to Kent to see the castle myself first hand and to see if I agreed with this bold claim!

To get to Leeds Castle we took the train from Victoria to Bearsted and a coach shuttle service run by Spot Travel that is available from the station from there. It only takes just over an hour in total.

Given it was a lovely (admittedly greyish) spring day, we decided the plan would be to do a walk in the countryside around the castle to work up an appetite for lunch at one of the castle’s restaurants.

We followed a great walk Lizzie found online, which after some help from a couple of locals on directions, ended up being a perfect two hour tramp with views along the way of the North Downs (covering about 5miles/8km).

We walked through a couple of lovely, picturesque villages…

…Beautiful woodland and meadows.

The end of our trip had us arrive at Leeds Castle itself. And the view is worth the wait!

Using the public footpath, we could enter the castle grounds free of charge which allowed us to get a closer look at the building and the grounds.

We were even greeted by the local fauna.

Leeds Castle dates back to 1119, built on islands in a lake formed by damming the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds. Before being open to the public in 1976, Leeds Castle was home to six of England’s medieval queens including Catherine of Aragon (Henry VIII’s first queen), so it is rich in English history.

Given entry to the Castle was a bit pricey (£24.50/pp), we decided to skip looking around the castle interior on this occasion and stick to enjoying the view and the grounds.